Our new corporate Values include a commitment to caring for our environment.
Our first step in delivering on this commitment is to improve our understanding of the environmental impact of our operations prior to identifying the right initiatives for the business.
Using the UK DEFRA Environmental Reporting Guidelines as a framework, we have established a global team which includes representatives from all the countries in which we operate.The team will meet quarterly to update on progress against national plans and share best practice among the Company’s operations worldwide.
The team’s main roles are to:
- identify Inchcape’s most significant areas of environmental impact;
- identify appropriate initiatives;and
- set achievable targets for improvement.
The initial areas that the team identified are:
- greenhouse gas emissions,directly from our business and indirectly through our use of energy;
- pollution, through the accidental release to soil,air or water of potentially harmful fluids or chemicals;
- waste to landfill,mainly generated from our service and distribution activities, some of which may be a hazard if not disposed of properly.
Inchcape will create a set of guidelines for new-build and refurbishment construction projects, to ensure that the most appropriate environmental practice is integrated into our property portfolio as rapidly as possible.We are investigating the benefits from insulation of walls and roofs,plus treatments and films for windows and other glass surfaces. Where possible we will introduce solar capture and other environmentally friendly heating or cooling methods. Management of water is important and at several sites globally we are already operating fully recycled water wash processes,which collect,clean and re-use all liquid run-off.
We will investigate the potential to use recycled materials wherever possible as a Group-wide policy,and pay special attention on refurbishment projects where storage and re-use of existing materials will have the additional advantage of minimising the environmental impact of transportation of building materials.
Our sales people attend regular training sessions such that they themselves understand environmental and performance data in relation to the vehicles we sell and are able to present that information to potential Customers.
Equally, a well maintained vehicle has significantly less impact upon the environment than a poorly maintained one. Our service advisers are trained to advise motorists accordingly.
